Before you continue

If you found this by accident, you are almost certainly looking for something else.

If you arrived here intentionally, I should explain what this is before you spend any more time with it.

This is not an archive.

At least, I don't believe it is.

It is an index.

Those two things are not the same.

An archive attempts to preserve information. An index attempts to make information navigable.

Most of what you will find here was not created by me. Some of it was collected by me. Much of it has been organized by me. A small portion remains difficult for me to explain.

I have tried to keep those categories separate wherever possible.

I am not asking you to believe anything.

You will find no claim here that cannot be questioned. In many places I question it myself.

Whenever I have been able to identify an ordinary explanation for something, I have preferred it.

Whenever I have made an assumption, I have tried to identify it as such.

Whenever I have changed my mind, I have left the earlier mistake intact where practical.

If you discover an explanation that better fits the evidence than the one I currently accept, I hope you will choose it.

This project did not begin with a theory.

It began with a collection of notes. Those notes became folders. The folders became cross-references. Eventually the relationships between the material became more interesting than the material itself.

That was the point at which I realized I needed an index.

There is an important distinction throughout this project.

Observation — Something directly recorded.

Interpretation — A conclusion drawn from one or more observations.

Speculation — A possibility that currently lacks sufficient supporting evidence.

If those categories ever become confused, the entire project becomes less useful.

Why preserve any of this?

Because I no longer trust memory. Not only my own. Anyone's.

Memory changes. Stories change. Interpretations change.

Written observations are imperfect, but they can at least be revisited.

Read slowly.

Do not assume every connection is meaningful. Do not dismiss every connection as coincidence.

The most useful position lies somewhere between certainty and disbelief.

If you find yourself reaching a conclusion too quickly, stop. Look again.

The structure is often more informative than the individual pieces.

Everything beyond this point is arranged according to the best understanding I have at the time of writing.

Where uncertainty exists, I have tried to leave it visible.

If you continue, begin with the field notes. They explain how this index came to exist.